[Dtb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Responds toAuthorsGuild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2

Fri Feb 13 16:05:31 UTC 2009

A Kiddle is a hardware device, sold by Amazon, that will display, and  
now read aloud with text to speech, books sold by Amazon for it. The  
books are sold in a proprietary format. They are not, sadly, DAISY. It  
would be a really great addition to Kiddle if it could play DAISY book.

Greg Kearney
535 S. Jackson St.
Casper, Wyoming 82601
307-224-4022
gkearney at gmail.com

On Feb 13, 2009, at 8:26 AM, Anthony Vece wrote:

>  Pardon my ignorance but, what is Kindle and, how does it differ  
> from NLS or Bookshare.
>
> Thanks
>
>
> Anthony
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Wurtzel" <f.wurtzel at comcast.net 
> >
> To: "'Discussion of Digital Talking Books'" <dtb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 9:37 AM
> Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Responds  
> toAuthorsGuild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Do you have contact details?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Warm Regards,
>>
>> Fred
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:dtb-talk- 
>> bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of rick watson
>> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 7:15 AM
>> To: 'Discussion of Digital Talking Books'
>> Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Responds to
>> AuthorsGuild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>>
>> Good morning listers,
>> I would like to urge everyone to contact technical support for the  
>> kindle
>> and ask that the menus be made usable through the text-to-speech  
>> engine.
>> The technician whom I spoke with said that he would pass along this
>> information. This is an opportunity for us as visually impaired  
>> people to
>> get access to a wide range of books. There are currently 230000 books
>> available for purchase on kindle's site.
>> Rick
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:dtb-talk- 
>> bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Freeh, Jessica (by way of David Andrews  
>> <dandrews at visi.com>)
>> Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 10:38 PM
>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [Dtb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Responds to  
>> Authors
>> Guild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>>
>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>
>> CONTACT:
>> Chris Danielsen
>> Director of Public Relations
>> National Federation of the Blind
>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>>
>> National Federation of the Blind Responds to Authors Guild
>> Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>>
>> Baltimore, Maryland (February 12, 2009): The National Federation of
>> the Blind, the largest organization of blind people in the United
>> States, today responded to a statement put out by the Authors Guild
>> advising its members to consider negotiating contracts prohibiting
>> e-books to be read aloud by the new Amazon Kindle 2, which
>> incorporates text-to-speech technology. The Authors Guild argues that
>> the reading of a book out loud by a machine is a copyright
>> infringement unless the copyright holder has specifically granted
>> permission for the book to be read aloud.
>>
>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
>> said: "The National Federation of the Blind supports all technologies
>> that allow blind people to have better access to the printed word,
>> including the ability of devices like the Kindle 2 to read commercial
>> e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology. Although the Authors
>> Guild claims that it supports making books accessible to the blind,
>> its position on the inclusion of text-to-speech technology in the
>> Kindle 2 is harmful to blind people. The Authors Guild says that
>> having a book read aloud by a machine in the privacy of one's home or
>> vehicle is a copyright infringement. But blind people routinely use
>> readers, either human or machine, to access books that are not
>> available in alternative formats like Braille or audio. Up until now,
>> no one has argued that this is illegal, but now the Authors Guild
>> says that it is. This is absolutely wrong. The blind and other
>> readers have the right for books to be presented to us in the format
>> that is most useful to us, and we are not violating copyright law as
>> long as we use readers, either human or machine, for private rather
>> than public listening. The key point is that reading aloud in private
>> is the same whether done by a person or a machine, and reading aloud
>> in private is never an infringement of copyright.
>>
>> "Amazon has taken a step in the right direction by including
>> text-to-speech technology for reading e-books aloud on its new Kindle
>> 2," Dr. Maurer continued. "We note, however, that the device itself
>> cannot be used independently by a blind reader because the controls
>> to download a book and begin reading it aloud are visual and
>> therefore inaccessible to the blind. We urge Amazon to rectify this
>> situation as soon as possible in order to make the Kindle 2 a device
>> that truly can be used both by blind and sighted readers. By doing
>> so, Amazon will make it possible for blind people to purchase a new
>> book and begin reading it immediately, just as sighted people do."
>>
>>
>>
>> ###
>>
>>
>>
>> About the National Federation of the Blind
>>
>> With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind
>> is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind
>> people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people's lives
>> through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs
>> encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force
>> in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In
>> January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind
>> Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the
>> United States for the blind led by the blind.
>>
>>
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